Bale tie buokle



(No Model.)

H. L. HOWE. BALE TIE BUCKLE. No. 243,904. Patented July 5, 1881.

WITNESSES n. PETERS PflMOI-Khognphun Wuhingmn. n. c.

U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRYVL. HOWE, OF OANANDAIGUA, NEW YORK.

BALE-TIE BUCKLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 243,904, dated July 5, 1881.

Application filed April 9, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HENRY LAWRENCE HOWE, of Oanandaigua, in the county of Ontario and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Buckle for Cotton-Bale Ties and other Bale-Ties; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the annexed drawings and to the letters of reference thereon, in which- Figure 1 is a plan of a two-finger buckle, illustrating my invention. Fig. 2is a plan of a three-fingerbuckle, also illustrating said invention. Fig. 3 is an end view of the buckle. Fig. 4 is a plan of the three-finger buckle with the first end of the band applied and the other ready for application. Fig. 5 is a plan of the three-finger buckle with the band applied. Fig. 6 is a similar view of two-finger buckle and band. Figs. 7 and 8 are diagrams illustrating economical modes of cutting out the three-finger and twofinger buckles, respectively.

There are three points of special importance in a buckle for cotton-bale ties,or for any metallic tie to be used when the bale is compressed under great pressure: first, that the buckle may be conveniently applied while the bale is under pressure; second, that the band should be held by the buckle so that it may not pull open by the pressure of the compressed bale, and also may not slide or slip laterally so as to escape from the buckle at the side; and, thirdly, that the buckle should be so devised that in the interest of economy it may be cut or punched from wrought-iron, so as to waste as little material as possible, thus combining a highly=important economy with tensile strength.

My buckle, which is represented in several views in the annexed drawings, consists of the back A, with either two or three fingers, as may be desired, at right angles and in the same plane, (markedin the drawings of the two-fin gered buckle B B and in the drawings of the three-fingered buckle B B B each finger having the tip L turning down so as to form alip or guard projecting at an angle to the afore said plane of the buckle, as shown in the side view of a finger and lip or guard in Fig. 3 of the drawings annexed, and which will prevent a lateral movement of the loops or bands and their escape from the slot or slots between the fingers after said loops have been locked in place. When my buckle, having either two fingers or three, is placed in its final position on the bale it is intended that the lips or guards should be inside-that is, projecting toward the bale. In practice the lips may each be about a quarter of an inch in length of projection from the fingers, respectively, and the buckle itself, includingthelength of thelips or guards, about two and a half inches in length along the back A by two inches in width, when out from wrought-iron about one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness.

In tying bales by the use of my buckle the loop at one end of the band is placed on the finger B, as shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6, respectively, and the end of the loop left turned back under the said finger, Where it is held in place by the pressure of the bale and from lateral movement by the lip or guard L.

In making use of the three-fingered buckle, the other end of the band, having been brought around the bale, is bentinto a loop, as shown in Fig. 4, and passed over the finger B the free end of the loop up, and this free end allowed to fall under the finger B. This loop will be held in place by the pressure of the bale and kept from lateral movement by the lips L on the fingers B and B as shown in Fig. 5.

In making use of the two-fingered buckle, theloose end of the band, having been brought around the bale, is bent into a loop, the free end of the loop underneath, and this loop, having been passed over the finger B as in Fig. 6, is held in place by the pressure of the bale, and also kept from lateral movement by the lip L as shown in Fig. 6.

My buckles, whether made with two or three fingers, may be punched from sheets or bars of wrought-iron in such a way that two buckles may be cut from aparallelogram of metal and have large and convenient slot or slots, 'as shown in the annexed drawings, Figs. 7 and 8, and this with but little waste of metal, the fingers of the one coming out of the slots of the other. The small pieces G and H in Figs. 7 and 8 are the only portions not entirely utilized in this operation, and they may be left attached to each buckle, respectively, as a matter of further economy. The lips or guards (marked L, respectively,) may be made by any of the Well-known and existing mechanical processes; and in the three-fingered buckle the third finger may be made lighter than the others, as shown in Fig. 8. The said buckles, whether with two or three fingers, may also he made of east or malleable iron, or similar metal, taking care to have the lip or guard L formed so as to serve its purpose of preventing lateral slipping of the band.

Iclaim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The lip or guard L, attached to and combined with the outer end of a finger of an openslot bale-tie buckle, and turning down at an angle to the plane of the buckle to prevent 

